Boooooorgos

Burgos is a necessary stop if you're traveling north of Madrid. Guidebooks insist that you see the city's tremendous cathedral. 

We insist that you look out for its snails...

....its knobby trees....

...and its delicious alleyways, full of wonderful bites.

Biking along the river

The bike trip started in Duisburg, in the industrial region of Germany.  The old factories have been turned into a public park, where artists sat, drawing the bizarre ramps and cylinders and chimneys, surrounded by endless.

It began, as all bike trips should, with a marathon. The next day, we packed up, hobbled outside, and started cycling.












The first night we stopped at Koln, home of one of the most beautiful cathedrals we've ever seen.  Then one day of riding to Koblenz, and finally to the Moselle!

There were dozens of picturesque towns along the way, which had little town squares and dense forests above rows of beautiful, old houses.

Lunch most days included German bread and strawberries.  German strawberries are either the best in the world, or it's been a really long time since we've had good fresh strawberries (or both).

Further along the Moselle, the hills were covered in vineyards.  A little like Napa, but with a winding river (for impromptu swimming) and far fewer people. And, crucially, separate bike paths!

Our last stop was Trier, near the Luxembourg border and home of Porta Nigra, the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps.

In all we bicycled about 400km in four days, but because the rivers are so winding, we wound up less than 200km from Duisburg as the crow flies!

Qutb Minnar

After a trip to South India (Chennai and Kerala) in October, we gave North India a try.  Why, as we were asked at passport control when leaving Abu Dhabi?  Well, for one, our friends were getting married in Delhi, and for another, we have been told that it is a completely different place than the south.  Different, yes.  Completely?  Depends on where you're coming from -- but the sights (and food!) are certainly spectacular.

We landed at night, took a deep breath, and found our way to our hotel.  We spent our first full day exploring New Delhi, an area which was built up by the British but which has monuments which span over 1000 years of Indian history.  First stop was one of the oldest, Qutb Minnar.  

Qutb Minnar construction began in 1193 by the first Muslim sultan of Delhi, supposedly in celebration of his victory over the Hindus.  It was an ambitious project: even now, the tower is the second tallest minaret in India. Like most buildings we saw on the trip, it took decades to complete. (We wonder how many stunningly elaborate projects had been started and abandoned.)  A beautiful mosque, finished in 1198, sits beside it. 

We were surprised at how frequently six (rather than eight) sided stars featured in the intricate cut-outs. You can just get a glimpse of them in the screen below.  We later learned that when Qutb Minnar was built, the all three monotheistic religions used six-sided stars as symbols.



The complex is massive -- besides the mosque, there are ruins of a university, as well as elaborate tombs.

Each and every stone is mesmerizing, with pink, golden, red, gray, and white hues of sandstone making up varied, intricate patterns.

And the parrots are lovely, too. 

Dubai: Near the Top

We bought tickets to "At the Top," the observation deck of the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa. It was originally named Burj Dubai, but was renamed after the ruler of Abu Dhabi after Abu Dhabi bailed out Dubai in 2010. (Names here are super confusing. Most streets, for example, are named after Sheikh Zayed in one way or another.)






















Here we are "At the Top."

Well, near the top. Here's what we could see below:



And here's what we could see above:

Before heading to the top, we prowled the nearby Dubai Mall, the world's largest mall. The mall went on for miles. There is an ice rink and an aquarium; we gawked at the latter in great awe for quite some time.



Honey is sold much like perfume - in beautiful glass vats, at almost $100 a pound.



There is an impressive array of designer clothes, including baby lines for some of the major brands. For example:



But most of the miles are full of cake. One of us spent a lot of time gazing at the cakes. There were layer cakes, and cupcakes of all kinds.

 A branch of Magnolia Bakery (though *this* Magnolia will screen print your cake with Disney princesses, which we're pretty sure is a no-go at its big sister in New York).



And the loveliest and most wonderful bookstore in the world. Well, in the UAE. Here Margaret is, in delight. For what did she find? The complete work of Dickens in three different editions per novel, and a full stack of secondary Literary Criticism. Not bad.